Where They Stand
by TheShadowsSilhouette
Summary: The 12th Precinct is getting a new Detective. How will this affect their team? What will change? WHO, will change? Updates will come as soon as I can get to a computer.
1. Chapter 1

Kevin Ryan walked slowly out of the precinct elevator. It was Monday morning and for some reason the normally quiet bullpen was buzzing with chatter and activity. He walked up to his desk, casually draping his coat over the chair.

"What's going on?" He asked his partners, Beckett and Esposito, who were standing near his desk.

"We have a rookie coming in." Esposito said.

"Where from?" Ryan questioned, now understanding why everyone seemed so excited, and finding himself curious about the topic at hand as well.

"Fresh out of college." Beckett said, looking at Gates' office. The window's blinds and the door were all closed, making it impossible to see who was inside.

"Really?" Ryan asked, surprised since the majority of Detectives either started in homicide and worked their way up, or transferred.

"Yeah. I think she is joining our team too." Beckett added, leaning close to the door, trying to hear them.

"She? Who is it?" Ryan asked.

"Don't know yet, I think they are almost done." Beckett replied, and sure enough the door handle turned. Beckett slid away just in time. Gates walked quickly out of her office, a familiar face trailing behind her.

"Alexis?" Beckett asked, startled.

"Detectives, I'm sure you all know Alexis Castle." Gates interrupted quickly, stopping the conversation. Alexis however, shot them all a small smile. Ryan knew Gates was speaking, and that he should be listening, but his attention was focused elsewhere. He hadn't seen Alexis since she had her internship with Lanie, and was surprised by what he saw. Alexis had matured, wearing black slacks, a purple top and heels she stood slightly taller than him. Ryan was startled by her appearance, as he had known the girl since she was 16. He wasn't sure whether it was the way she stood, tall and proud, or the police shield and gun attached to her hip, but she had obviously grown up.

"Detective Ryan, do you agree?" Gates' demanding tone broke Ryan from his thoughts.

"Um, yes Sir." He replied quickly, hoping he had answered correctly.

"Ok, then its settled. Detective Ryan will be mentoring Detective Castle for the first few cases to help her get the hang of things. I trust there will be no issues and that you will complete all of your work." Gates nodded once, then retreated to her office.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you for the positive feedback. I have a fairly long story planned ahead and I most definitely will be sticking with it. Updates will come most likely every time I can get to a computer. Special Thanks to Caskett54 for agreeing to beta read my chapters and for doing a fantastic job of it. Check out her stories as well. On with the chapter…_

"Hi," Alexis stated simply.

"Why didn't you tell us you were coming to the twelfth?" Beckett exclaimed, hugging the younger girl.

"Why didn't you tell us you even wanted to be a cop?" Esposito questioned as well, stepping forward to give her a quick hug. Ryan gave Alexis a small hug, remaining quiet.

"Well, I wanted to get through all of my college requirements and stuff quickly, so I was pretty busy, but I wanted it to stay a surprise because I didn't want you guys trying to help me. I wanted to accomplish this by myself, independently. And I did," Alexis explained.

"I have a box in my car that I need to go grab so if you'll excuse me," She said.

"I'll help," Ryan volunteered quickly, joining her to walk to the parking garage. She smiled at him.

"So, you're my mentor?" She asked.

"Looks like it," Ryan replied, smiling as well.

"It's great to see you, Alexis, really, you look great." He said.

"Thanks. It's good to see you too. How's Jenny?" She asked good naturedly. Ryan's smile vanished.

"Jenny and I, uh, separated a while back," Ryan muttered. Alexis gasped quietly.

"Oh my god, Kevin, I'm so sorry," Alexis stressed, taken by surprise.

"If you don't mind me asking, why?" She carefully asked him.

"She didn't want to be a cop's wife. Said that she couldn't handle knowing that any day of the week I could be killed just by going to work, and that we shouldn't have children that might have to grow up without their father," He explained, wincing only slightly. Her words had hurt.

"Then she obviously didn't know how good of a cop you are," Alexis stated, trying to both reassure him and lighten the mood. Kevin jumped at the opportunity to change the subject.

"Speaking of cop's, what service weapon did you choose?" He wondered.

"A Glock 17. It felt the sturdiest to me," She explained happily.

"Nice, wait this is your car?" He asked surprise when they came to a stop next to a high class Mercedes.

"Yeah, Captain said that she wouldn't issue me one until I got through a case or two, to make sure I wasn't going to quit after a bad one or anything," Alexis explained to him, slightly irritably.

"Ah, well you can ride with me whenever you need to," He offered.

"Thanks," She smiled. She unlocked the car and pulled open the backseat door, but then Kevin quickly weaved around her, picking up the small box.

"I got it," He smiled at her. She gave him a grateful smile and grabbed her jacket from the front seat. On their way back up to the precinct they chatted about various things. Such as her Dad, who had stopped shadowing Beckett a while ago to take care of their daughter, Madison Johanna Castle. She had turned three and needed to be watched almost constantly since she had just learned to walk. Rick had stopped writing after finishing the Nikki Heat series, but his fortune remained. Castle still came by the precinct every day for lunch with his wife and friends. Remembering this, worry set into Alexis about today, since her father didn't know about her new job either. They made it to Alexis' desk just as Beckett and Esposito were getting up from theirs'.

Body dropped," Beckett stated, leading the way back out of the bullpen.

Arriving at the crime scene Ryan turned to briefly face Alexis.

"You ready?" She nodded excitedly. They exited the vehicle, ducking under the yellow tape to join Beckett, Esposito, and Lanie in the alley.

"Hey Lex, heard about your new job. Welcome to the team," Lanie said, grinning at her.

"Thanks, so what do we got?" She asked, looking at the body lying at their feet.

"Cody Williams, 32 year old male with a single GSW to the chest. Straight to the heart, so he died instantly. He was found at about 7:30 this morning by some tourists passing by," Lanie explained.

"Hell of a vacation," Javier commented.

"Based on body temperature I'd say he was killed anywhere between midnight and three this morning but I can narrow it down for you when I get him to the lab," She finished.

"Mugging?" Ryan wondered.

"Nah, his wallet was still in his pocket along with 80 bucks, a credit card and his car keys," Esposito mentioned.

"Where's the nearest parking garage?" Alexis asked the group.

"Two blocks down," Beckett said, tossing Alexis the keys.

"You and Ryan go see if you can find his car, we will survey the area and see if anyone remembers hearing a gunshot," Beckett commanded. Alexis nodded, walking back out of the alley with Ryan. They found his Porsche easily, finding nothing interesting in the car but they managed to retrieve his last stop from his car's automatic GPS. Turned out only to be a store but they got his home address out of it as well. They all went straight to the apartment, walking to the door as a group. But from down the hallway they noticed something quickly.

"Open door," Beckett whispered. Alexis' training kicked into gear immediately as she drew her weapon, and saw the others mirror her tense shooting position. Beckett slowly made her way to the door, stopping on the far side of the frame from the knob. Even from the distance Alexis could see the markings on the frame that indicated the apartment had been broken into. Beckett's fingers rapidly went through several motions, but her fellow Detective's understood. Beckett was going in first, then Esposito on her left and Ryan on her right. Alexis was to follow on Ryan's right as well. They all moved into position and on Beckett's count, quickly entered the room. Alexis immediately noticed that the room was trashed but continued regardless, her heels making small indentations on the carelessly strewn papers on the floor. She quickly fell to Kevin's right, walking close to the wall, sweeping the room with her eyes and gun point. Beckett and Esposito went toward to kitchen and Ryan lead to the way to the hallway. He darted into the first room and Alexis entered the other, the bedroom. She slowly searched the room, checking every possible hiding space. As she re-entered the living room, she heard to cop's saying.  
"Clear," She counted three then responded with her own.

"Bedroom's clear," She called out, returning her Glock to the holster on her hip. They all wandered to apartment cautiously, while Esposito called it in for CSU.

"Someone was looking for something," Alexis stated, noticing the overturned couch cushions.

"The question is, did they find it?" Beckett replied slowly, thinking.

"The entire apartment is torn apart, there's no way to tell where they found it if they even did," Ryan added.

"We'll have CSU sweep the entire place for prints," Beckett decided, walking out of the room.

"I don't think they found what they were looking for," Alexis said.

"Yeah?" Ryan asked, wanting an explanation. Alexis slowly paced the room as it began filling with uni's and blue and white CSU jackets.

"Well, If I were looking for something and broke in, I found check the room I walk into first, then the bedroom would be they next logical place," Alexis said, Ryan nodded.

"Statistics say that 90% of secret items like safes or stashes of something are hidden in the owner's bedroom, for easy but un-obvious access," She explained.

"Ok?" Ryan asked her.

"If he found it in say, the bedroom, why did he tear up the rest of the apartment?" Alexis stated.

"Unless he found it in the last place he looked, which is unlikely, he didn't find it," Ryan understood.

"Let's check over the room, to see if he missed something," Ryan instructed, slowly walking around the room, inspecting various areas. Alexis scanned the rooms with her eyes, moving from place to place. She found herself back inside the vic's bedroom. Just about everything was either flipped over or torn apart. She struggled to walk around the haphazardly thrown mattress and clothing strewn about without falling. Suddenly, her eyes picked something up, locking on to it. The air vent. She walked forward quickly, dropping down on her knees in front of it. She ran her fingers around it, feeling the small scratch marks surrounding it. She carefully placed her gloved fingertips on the top and pulled down. It came loose easily, falling quietly down onto the floor. Alexis pulled a small flashlight from her hip and peered inside.

"Guys, you're going to want to see this," She called out into the apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you for being patient. I have been dealing with some family issues and will continue to be so I apologize ahead of time if this gets left alone for a little bit but I will be finishing it. Feel free to PM me and remember to review! ~SS_

The other three Detectives quickly entered the room.

"What did you find?" Beckett asked.

"I may have found what our guy was looking for," Alexis stated. She removed her hand from the vent and in her plastic blue gloved hand was a small leather book.

"A ledger?" Ryan asked.

"Looks like it," Alexis agreed, unwinding the string that held it closed carefully.

"I has pages and pages of names and what seems to be random dollar amounts," She said. She passed it off to Ryan, who was standing closest to her.

"There's a calendar in the back. There's a name for each date. It seems to be mostly a Jennifer Avery." He said, handing it to Esposito.

"Let's head back to the precinct and run it, CSU is crowding up the place anyways," Beckett decided, leading the way back out of the apartment.

"Nice work, Castle," Ryan said, smiling. Alexis returned the grin.

"Thanks," She said, following her new team out of the apartment.

When they ran Jennifer Avery through the system she came up with a clean rap sheet, as did the vic. They called Avery in and Gates made an appearance only to declare that Alexis and Kevin were to interrogate, stating that the youngest Detective needed to get a grasp of all the aspects of the job. Ryan and Alexis entered the interrogation room and sat simultaneously across the table from Jennifer. Alexis placed her case folder on the cold metal table but kept one hand on top of it.

"Mrs. Avery, I'm Detective Ryan, this is Detective Castle. Would you mind answering a few questions for us?" Ryan asked.

"What is this about?" The woman asked in a snooty ton. Alexis took a second to take in the woman. She was a petite woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. Around her neck she had multiple strings of pearls and she was wearing a fur coat. A perfect looking stereotype of a stuck up, snobby, rich woman.

"Do you know a Cody Williams?" Alexis asked carefully.

"No I do not," Avery said. Alexis pulled the file open and removed a picture of the vic, putting it on the table and turning it to face Jennifer.

"You don't know this man?" She asked again.

"I don't know who this Cody is but that man is Jacob," She said.

"Jacob?" Ryan asked confusedly. She nodded.

"Jacob Wellington. Is he in some sort of trouble?" She asked worriedly. Alexis steeled herself.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to inform you that this man," She tapped the photo.

"Is dead, he was murdered this morning," Alexis finished. Avery's eyes shot wide open.

"What? Jacob is dead? No, that cannot be true," She said, shaking her head vigorously. Alexis pulled out another picture of Cody/Jacob, a post mortem shot taken at the morgue that Lanie had sent up. She watched the realization dawn in Avery's eyes, then watched the tears fill them. She began sobbing and mumbling to herself.

"Jake," She held her head in her hands and stared down at the picture.

"We are very sorry for your loss," Alexis said quietly.

"We'll give you a minute," Ryan added, leading the way out of the small room. The entered observation where Beckett and Esposito were waiting.

"Who the hell is Jacob Wellington?" Esposito asked.

"I don't know, but I want to find out. Ryan, Castle, run it and start calling in some more of the recurring names in the ledger. We'll take it from here," Beckett instructed. They nodded and walked into the bullpen. Ryan, instead of going directly to his desk she stopped at Alexis'.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. It's weird though because when my dad was shadowing Beckett I always imagined myself on that side of the table," She said.

"I would tell you it gets easier, but it doesn't really. You will eventually get kind of used to it, but its always hard. You did good though," He said, smiling gently at her.

""Speaking of your dad, he normally comes in for lunch in about 20. You gonna run for it and hide somewhere?" He teased.

"I wish" Alexis said, groaning as she powered her computer up. He barked out a laugh.

"I'd cover for you, I'll take the ledger," He said, grabbing the book and walking to his desk. Alexis, meanwhile, ran Jacob Wellington, finding a different drivers license but it had the same picture and listed DOB as the Williams license. The addresses listed were different though and he still had a clean record. Getting an idea, she scanned the picture and ran it through the facial recognition system. 6 ID's popped. Cody Williams, Jacob Wellington, Ryan Ramsey, Andrew Coleman, Zachary Collins and James Kepner. She printed out a picture of each ID. She grabbed them and walked up to Ryan's desk, perching on the corner.

"Guess what I found," She said, he looked at her questioningly.

"Cody Williams wasn't just Cody Williams," She said, dropping the papers on his desk. He gathered them and began looking through them.

"Fake ID's? He asked.

"Yep, each has a different name and address, but everything else matches up. Zachary Collins is the only one with a rap sheet, he had a B and E and some assault charges," She explained to him.

"So there's four more residences that we haven't even found yet?" Ryan asked.

"Looks that way,"

"How did he afford six apartments?" Ryan asked.

"My guess? Con man. That would explain the fake ID's, apartments and that the most mentioned person in his ledger is a woman like Avery," She stated. He nodded.

"We need more proof though," He said. Both Detectives looked up at the sound of heels and saw a group of well dressed women exiting the precinct elevator.

"We may have just got it," Alexis said, getting up and walking to the group. Soon each woman was separated from each other and the Detectives were going through them, interviewing. Alexis entered the break room where some of the ladies were waiting, though on opposite sides of the room.

"Hello, Ms. Hawthorne, I'm Detective Castle, I'm here to ask you a few questions.

"About?" She asked.

"This man," Alexis said, pulling out the familiar post mortem picture.

"Was killed this morning, Do you know who this is?" Hawthorne peered at the picture.

"Andrew," She stated, her voice cracking.

"Uh, Andrew Coleman," She stated, clearing her throat.

"What was your relationship with him?" Alexis asked, writing down the alias.

"He, was, my fiancé," She said, choking on the past tense, Alexis added that to her notebook as well.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Alexis asked.

"Four days ago, he said he had to go out of town on a business trip, he was supposed to return tomorrow," The woman said.

"Where did he work?" Alexis pressed, jotting down the information.

"At a law firm downtown, he said he caught a case he needed to go to Pennsylvania for," She mumbled.

"Were there any recent changes in Andrew, staying out late? Odd phone calls?" Alexis asked.

"I don't think so, he often worked late and he got phone calls a lot, I figured about business," She said.

"I'm sorry I have to ask this but, where were you last night between midnight and 3 AM?" Alexis asked softly.

"At my apartment, in bed. There's a 24 hour doorman policy, he can verify I stayed in all night," She said, Alexis offered her notebook and Hawthorne jotted down the address.

"Detective, how did he die?" She asked, tears filling her eyes.

"He was shot in the chest," Alexis stated.

"Did, did he suffer?" She inquired.

"No, death was instantaneous, he didn't feel it at all," Alexis said, remembering Lanie's words from earlier. Hawthorne nodded slowly, before putting her head in her arms and crying, sobs rocking her small body.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Alexis said quietly, before quickly exiting the room. Instead of going to her desk she turned the other way, down the empty hallway. She stood near the end of it, a lone tear slid down her cheek. I can't quit, she thought. I can handle this. She felt horrible for the woman though, knowing that she had honestly loved this man and was planning her wedding, and life with him while he was probably just thinking about his other targets.

"Castle?" She heard from down the hallway. She glanced up, seeing Ryan walking toward her.

"Oh, hey," She said, hurriedly wiping the tear away.

"Alexis, are you ok?" He asked.

"Yeah, its just, I got Andrew Coleman's fiancé. She was so torn up, and he probably didn't even care about her. Its sick, messing with people like that," She said, looking down.

"Hey," He whispered, drawing her attention back up.

"She'll be ok. Yeah, it'll hurt for a while, but she'll heal, and eventually move on with her life," He reassured her. She nodded and together they walked back into the bullpen. She moved to the murder board to write down the information she got. Just as she finished she heard a cry behind her,

"Lexie!" She took a deep breath, knowing that little girl's voice, Maddie. Her father had arrived.


	4. Chapter 4

Alexis sucked in a deep breath, then turned on her heel and opened her arms.

"Maddie!" She exclaimed, not being able to help but smile when the young girl dashed into her arms.

"Alexis?" Rick wondered, sounding like something had just blown his mind. She slowly looked up.

"Hey, Dad," She greeted as casually as she could, carrying Maddie over to her desk and placing her on top of it in an empty space.

"You always bring Maddie?" She asked, desperately trying to keep the conversation light.

"What are you doing here?" He exclaimed incredulously.

"I work here," Alexis replied as simply as she could, gesturing with her hand to her 'Det. Castle' nameplate as she did.

"You, you work? Here? You're a cop?" The elder Castle stuttered through his sentence. She just nodded.

"Lexie catches bad guys with Mommy?" Maddie asked, gazing up at her. Alexis grinned.

"Sure do, Mad,"

"Can we talk? Privately?" Her father said, but more like demanded by the way he walked away before she could reply. Alexis sighed.

"Ryan, can you take her?" She asked him, referring to Maddie.

"Absolutely," He replied, getting up.

"Here, Maddie, go play with Uncle Kev for a few minutes okay? Lexie and Daddy will be right back," She assured the little girl, before watching Kevin pick her up and place her on the floor, then grasp her hand and walk with her at a slow pace to his desk. He sat down first, before lifting her and settling her on his knee, pointing out the different items on the desk to her, Alexis felt a small smile spread on her face. She then followed her waiting Dad out until they got to an empty hallway, but before she could speak.

"Why didn't you tell me you were working here?" He said loudly.

"Because, Dad, you would've either fought with me to not do it or tried to help me and I wanted to do it by myself, now quiet down," She added under her breath.

"It's not safe," Rick argued.

"Are you kidding me? For one, I'm teamed up with New York's finest. Two, I have been fully trained in combat, self defense and for crying out loud, Dad, I'm carrying! You are being ridiculous!" She exclaimed.

"You have a gun?" He asked slowly. She nodded.

"And you can shoot it? At people?" He questioned.

"I doubt that's the best way to word it but yeah, I guess," She agreed. Richard stared at her, she sighed.

"Come with me," She said, walking away. She re-entered the bullpen and saw Beckett at the board, reprimanding Maddie for trying to draw on the timeline. Alexis walked to her and spoke quietly for a minute, before walking to Kevin's desk.

"Can you come with us? Beckett says she's got Maddie," The red head asked hopefully. He nodded immediately and followed her and her father down the hallway. He soon realized where they were headed but kept his mouth shut, Castle hadn't been down here long enough that he wouldn't remember. They arrived at their destination and Alexis turned to him.

"Will you go first?" She asked, he nodded and stepped forward. Suddenly, his arm jerked up and his finger squeezed the trigger. He shot again and again until his clip emptied, Then Alexis stepped up in the stall next to him. She fired off a quick five shots, then simultaneously, the Detective's pulled their paper targets up and tore them down. Ryan's displayed five shots that tore through the chest area of the paper. Alexis then showed her's to her Dad.

"Ha! You missed!" He exclaimed, pointing to the sporadic holes.

"No, I didn't. This one, and this one," She said pointing to a hole in the shoulder and hand.

"Would stop him from shooting me or other people. These," She said, directing his attention to a gap where the knee and foot were,

"Would stop him in his tracks and bring him down, And this one," She said, pointing to the remaining spot.

"Would be a straight shot to the heart," Ryan finished, she nodded and smiled.

"Ok," Castle said.

"Really?" Alexis asked hesitantly, understanding what he was saying.

"Yeah, you're my daughter. I believe that you can make the choices that are best for you, you've never let me down. And, what kind of a father would I be if I didn't allow you to grow up?" He asked rhetorically.

"Thank you!" Alexis exclaimed, letting out a unusually girly squeal before throwing her arms around him.

"Always, Lex, anywways. I need to go pick up Remy's, I'll grab you something too," He said, before walking out of the shooting range.

"Congratulations," Ryan said, smiling at the obviously exuberant Alexis.

"He's ok with it! He doesn't hate me!" She exclaimed, pulling Kevin into a hug as well, she wrapped her arms around his neck and his wound around her petite waist. They pulled back slightly and locked eyes, standing like that for a moment. Alexis cleared her throat and dropped her arms, he did the same. They returned to the bullpen to see Kate sitting with Maddie and Javier sneaking up behind her and tickling her sides until she was shouting,

"No! Uncle Javi! Stop!" But giggling the whole while.

"So what do we got?" Alexis asked.

"Not much, rich women that loved him," Beckett replied, her attention still mainly on her daughter.

"What names?" She asked.

"Mine said Ryan Ramsey," Beckett said.

"My girl said James Kepner," Esposito replied as well.

"And mine knew him by the original ID, Cody Williams," Ryan finished.

"We're missing our Zachary Collins," She stated. Beckett's eyes shot up.

"Run it," She commanded. Alexis rounded the desk and sat at her computer, the guys leaning over her shoulders to watch.

"Ok, Zachary Collins, 26 years old. Charges for a B and E in 08', random strings of domestics in 08' until 2012 and assaults in the same time frame," She said.

"Address?" Beckett asked.

"Got it," Ryan replied, tearing out a sticky note.


	5. Chapter 5

_I am so sorry for the long wait, having some family problems and school has been just about all I had time for. However, I am back now and updates will be coming much more regularly. Thank you so much and I apologize. –SS. I don't own Castle._

They pulled to a stop in front of the apartment building, simultaneously climbing out of the vehicles.

"Alexis, take point," Beckett stated as they entered the building, swiftly flashing badges at the doorman.

"Really?" Alexis asked startled, she hadn't expected that Kate was going to let her do this, especially so soon. Beckett simply nodded, and the young Castle smiled, happy she was being trusted. They entered the hallway and walked the short distance to the door. Alexis banged her fist against the door loudly.

"NYPD," She called. She waited a moment, and was about to knock again when she heard something shatter from inside. In an instant, her gun was drawn. She took a small step back and nodded as Esposito, who then kicked the door down. She swept into the room, her fellow Detectives only steps behind her, their shouting mimicking each others. She spotted a broken vase amongst the mess, this place had been torn apart as well. Here, however, something was different.

"Open window!" She announced.

"Downstairs!" Beckett replied with her own shout, sending Esposito and Ryan running for the stairs. Castle and Beckett bolted through the apartment, Alexis in the lead, easily swinging her legs onto the fire escape and spotting the man one level below her.

"NYPD! Stop!" She shouted, scrambling down the ladder after him, jumping off the final level, landing solidly on her feet and taking off after him. She heard Beckett shout out and turned, seeing her fall to the ground, her shoe heel snapped.

"Go! Go!" Kate shouted, gesturing wildly in the direction of their suspect. Alexis spun, sprinting after the man. He reached the mouth of the alley first, turning towards her and pulling a gun. She narrowly dove behind a dumpster, the shots missing her. She swiveled around the side of it to return fire, but instead saw Esposito slam into the guy, knocking him flat on his face, his gun flying out of his hand. She ran to them, kicking the weapon out of the man's reach as Esposito handcuffed him. Ryan reached them then,

"You guys ok?" He asked between breaths.

"We're fine," Beckett said irritably as she hobbled to them, glowering at the broken shoe in her hand, then at the man on the ground.

"I'm going to run to the house, now I need new shoes," She announced, walking unevenly the direction of her car.

"Here, I'll take him," Ryan said, helping Javier heave the man to his feet, grabbing him by his cuffs and walking him to the car, reading him his rights.

"I'll wait here for CSU," Esposito decided, walking back towards the alley, dialing his phone.

"Okay. Esposito? Thanks," She said gratefully. He nodded, holding the phone to his ear.

"Anytime,"

"His driver's license says his name is Paul Avery," Ryan said, looking through the glass of observation into where the man from the alley sat at the interrogation table.

"Avery? As in Jennifer Avery?" Alexis wondered.

"The very same. This, is Jennifer's big brother," Esposito clarified, walking into the room.

"Why was he at Collins' apartment?" Ryan thought out loud.

"We're about to find out," Alexis said, announcing Beckett's arrival into the room on the other side of the glass.

"Mr. Avery, I'm Detective Beckett," Kate introduced herself, sitting across the table from him.

"Look lady, I didn't take anything from that apartment," He said rudely, staring her straight in the eye. Beckett's composure didn't waiver in the slightest.

"I don't care. What I do care about, is this man, you know him?" Beckett asked, putting a post mortem shot of Collins on the table. Avery shook his head, pushing the photo away.

"Really? You don't know your sisters boyfriend? My older brother would never let me have a boyfriend he didn't get to all but torture first," Beckett said,

"Yeah, maybe I've seen him around Jen," Avery changed his answer.

"Ah, well you see, we searched your place. Found a 20 caliber. Did you know that is the same caliber gun used to shoot him?" Beckett asked sarcastically, tapping the picture in front of her.

"And, Mr. Avery, I do not believe in coincidences. We are checking it to see if it's a match as we speak," She finished, watching his reaction.

"You went through my house? You can't do that!" He shouted angrily.

"Actually, we can. See when you shot at Detective Castle in the alley you gave us more than enough cause to get a warrant," Beckett informed him. Then the phone next to Esposito rang.

"Esposito. Yeah, ok, I'll tell her," He said, before ending the brief call.

"Matched it, his prints are all over it too," Esposito told his partners, before leaving to go tell Beckett. Following that event, Beckett was easily able to get Paul to confess. Turns out he had followed Collins one day, and saw him meet up with several of his other targets. He had lost it, and shot him, before going to try to find proof to give to the women, which is where Beckett and the team had caught up to him. As Beckett stood to leave, to allow uni's to enter the room with the paperwork. He spoke,

"Your brother would've done the same thing!" He shouted. She turned back to him and smiled.

"I don't have a brother,"


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you all for your feedback, you know, for the longest time I was just a reader on this website until Where They Stand began, and I would see people post about reviewing and PM's and things of that nature and how happy they were that they got them. But, now that I'm in their shoes I can honestly say nothing can bring a smile to my face like a review. Anyways, I am going to be working on this story again, it got sidelined for a while there. I'm updating as fast as I can, and as fast as I write. We are about to come face to face that the team would probably prefer to forget. Thanks again and don't forget to review! –SS I don't own Castle._

"I understand where he's coming from. You watch your little sister grow up, seems like nobody's good enough for her. Then finding out that the guy she's dating is really just playing her? Not to mention stealing her money? I'd probably kill the guy too," Ryan admitted as they walked back into the bullpen.

"Now," He continued,  
"We get to introduce you to a little tradition we have," He said, grinning at Alexis.

"Which is?" She questioned, pulling on her jacket.

"Drinks at the Haunt after a case," Beckett piped up from the murder board she was clearing.

"Of which, I cannot attend. Promised Mad I'd read with her tonight, sorry," She explained. Ryan nodded,

"Espo?" He asked hopefully.

"I can hang for a little while until I have a thing with Lanie," Javier agreed, grabbing his coat. Beckett waved to them as she headed to the elevator, soon after that they left as well. The bar consisted of small talk, nobody really bringing up anything of importance. Mostly weird cases Alexis wanted to know about, Lanie's insistence on Javier spending more time with her. Which happened to be the very reason he went jogging out the door after stretching what should've been 20 minutes to 40, only giving in when Lanie's insistent texts turned threatening.

"So," Kevin began, staring at his drink.

"I thought that you were majoring in English lit or something?" He asked curiously.

"I was," The young woman replied bluntly.

"Then how did you end up here?" He questioned, looking at her. She felt her body tense, then tried to relax and shrugged.

"Long story,"

"I've got time," Ryan replied immediately, not breaking his gaze. She considered denying his request, briefly. That was before she realized that this was the guy she had known for years, even though their workplace relationship had only recently begun. She knew from stories her dad had told that Kevin Ryan was one of the most loyal and trusting people he knew. She had felt it as well, the effortless way he seemed to always have her back, she could trust him. Alexis sighed quietly, nodding.

"Come on," He said, tossing some cash on the bar.

"Let's go for a walk," The two left and began walking down the sidewalk, going nowhere in particular. They walked for several blocks before Alexis built up the nerve to speak.

"It was just after the semester ended, my best friend Paige and I were roommates. I had known her since 2nd grade. We had a strong bond, and gotten even closer after Dad started shadowing Beckett. Her dad was a cop, she understood the fear I felt that there would be a day he didn't come back, she felt it too. Whenever there was a particularly difficult case she was the one I would call. We were two peas in a pod, she was studying history, she wanted to be a teacher. It was October 18th," She said, trailing off, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"That night we had planned to pick up McDonald's happy meals and watch movies. We were going to meet in our room at 5:30, she didn't show up. I waited almost six hours, figuring something ran long or something was going on that made perfect sense. The gut feeling I had told me different. I called campus police and they called the local department. There was this little playground on an elementary school nearby, it was up on a hill, overlooking this lake. Paige liked to go there to think, she was really struggling with homesickness, so she'd be there a lot. That's where they found her," Alexis took another breath, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"They called me to the park for a positive I.D. She had been stabbed multiple times. I could tell that one of the wounds had punctured an artery from the amount of blood. Working with Lanie taught me that. I knew that she had laid on the grass, and bled out completely alone. Officer Emery had to drag me off the scene. The investigation went on for weeks, but they still have no idea who killed her or why. All they know is that after her last class she fell off the radar and ended up at the park. It's a cold case now, he's in the wind," She continued, folding her arms across her chest to try to keep them from shaking.

"That's why I became a cop. To do what Officer Emery and his team couldn't. To solve as many cases as possible, and to do everything in my power to give closure to friends and families of victims. To give what I can't have," Alexis finished, struggling to hold herself together. Kevin had listened quietly through her whole story, watching as she reopened the wound in her chest, as the pain filled her eyes and her struggle to keep herself calm. He couldn't believe she had gone through something like this, nor that she hid it so well, buried it inside her, camouflaged by a lighthearted and happy exterior, when it was so dark on the inside.

"Alexis, I," He began, at a loss for words. He stopped trying, instead carefully wrapping his arms around her quivering frame. She didn't move for a minute, before relaxing into him, holding onto him as if her life depended on such. She didn't grieve Paige like people normally grieve a loved one. Instead she shoved it down and focused on becoming a cop.

"I'm so sorry," Ryan whispered to her. She nodded softly, before releasing him and straightening her spine.

"Thank you," She replied, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"We should head back," She suggested, staring a slow walk back in the direction of the Old Haunt. The walk to the car was silent. Ryan only finally spoke when they were settled inside.

"Do you want me to take you back to the precinct, or your apartment?" He asked.

"You can drop me off at my place, just as long as you promise to pick me up in the morning." Alexis wagered, smirking at him. He smiled as well,

"I'll pick you up at 7,"


	7. Chapter 7

_I apologize for how dry this story may seem, I can't keep Alexis, Ryan, Beckett and everyone true to character if I were to jump straight in to it. So thank you for bearing with me, because here we go. –SS I do not own Castle._

The next couple of weeks went in a fairly regular routine. A body would drop, often being the result of an estranged wife or girlfriend or money problems, with the occasional freak accident that was categorized as manslaughter. Then, after they closed the case, approximately two days worth of paperwork, especially if there had been a shooting or chase. Castle and Ryan continued to grow progressively closer, spending a lot of time together. Everyone was in the bullpen when the call came in.

"Beckett," Kate answered, picking up the phone. The conversation was short.

"Ok, yeah I got it, thanks," She said, scribbling something down before hanging up.

"Caught a body," She announced, standing and getting her things. They arrived at an apartment complex, easily following the trail of police officers and CSU to the correct room. Beckett entered first, and being her best friend, quickly noticed the expression on Lanie's face.

"Lanie?" She questioned her friendly worriedly. By that point the rest of the team had entered the room, and as they walked around Lanie, realized what all the fuss was about. A blonde woman was laying on her bed, clothed nearly in a pristine way, methodically. Her hands were clasped together and resting on her stomach. The team slowly approached until they were close enough to read the note her hands rested on.

"For my favorite Detectives," It read, and as their gazes followed her arms, they saw the ligature marks ringing her neck.

"Tyson," Beckett nearly whispered, staring at the body. The Triple Killer was back.

"Lanie?" Beckett asked, her voice stronger.

"Cause of death is strangulation. Body repositioned post mortem. I haven't been able to check yet, but I will try to find fibers on her neck. I don't really have anything else for you," Lanie rattled off, ending on a sad note. Beckett turned towards her team, a fire in her eyes.

"He's not coming out alive," She said coldly. The tone in her voice showing the truth to her words.

The precinct was pretty quiet. Beckett has been interviewing the family of their victim, Carrie Wright, to see if they had heard about a new boyfriend or anything of the sort, with no luck. Lanie had matched the fibers on Wright's neck to the green and white nylon rope known to be Tyson's MO, even finding a fingerprint on the note matching him. He didn't care about keeping his identity a secret anymore, he was trying to taunt them. The team had already combed through all of Wright's personal belongings, as well as any video they could find along her daily route, with no sign of Tyson. They also checked anything he was known to be associated with, coming up with nothing, he had fallen off the radar after escaping from their grasp. It was beginning to look more and more like he had chosen his victim at random, which gave them nothing to go on, and the clock was ticking on his second kill. Gates had already held a conference, informing anyone who didn't already know as to the situation at hand, it wasn't necessary for Alexis however, she had already been caught up to date from Kevin. Gates had also pulled Beckett aside afterwards, asking for her to bring Castle up here, for his safety and the fact that they could use all the eyes they could get on this case. So the elder Castle was around as well, having brought Maddie as a safety precaution. It was 11:30 at night, so she was in sleeping on the couch in the break room, Rick and Kate were with her, talking about the case, trying to find a break. Esposito had gone down to visit Lanie, who hadn't stopped working since the body dropped, desperately looking for even the smallest piece of evidence that would help the case, nothing had popped yet. Kevin and Alexis were parked in front of the murder board, staring it down. Ryan hadn't spoken much since the crime scene. Alexis knew from what he had told her, what had happened and the major effect it had on him, it tore him apart inside. She wanted to help, but she knew there was nothing to say. The only way to end his pain even remotely was Tyson's arrest, or his death. So she said nothing, just sitting next to him quietly. It was getting down to the wire. They knew they didn't have long until his next victim was killed. The shrill ring of a telephone pierced their silence. Ryan bolted up, jogging to his desk and picking up the phone in hope of good news.

"Ryan," He answered, sitting on the edge of his seat. Alexis followed on his heels, perching on the edge of his desk. From such a short distance she saw his muscles tense up.

"Tyson," He spit out, and that was all Alexis needed to hear. She leapt to her feet, sprinting across the bullpen to her desk, knowing every second counted. She called for Beckett when she was closest to the break room, but didn't go in to get her. Instead, she dove to her computer, bringing up the tracing software and plugging in Kevin's phone line, then watching as it started bouncing around the map. She waved her hand it a motion towards him, to indicate it was going. Beckett reached her then.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Tyson called Ryan, I'm trying to trace it now," She informed her boss, watching the screen.

"Damn it!" She shouted, shoving her keyboard forward.

"He's bouncing the call, I can't get a trace," She seethed. Suddenly, Kevin slammed his phone down, knocking off several folders in the process, but he couldn't have cared less. He glanced at Alexis hopefully. She shook her head. Castle entered the room then, Esposito just behind him.

"What happened?" Esposito demanded, frustrated he had missed something.

"Tyson called, couldn't get a trace. What did he say exactly?" Beckett said, directing the last part at Ryan.

"I answered the phone and he immediately told me who it was, he didn't have to, I knew the voice. I asked why he was doing this, what he wanted and he ignored me, rattling on about how much he missed the city. Then he said that he had been watching Castle and I," Ryan explained, glancing at Alexis to indicate the Castle he was talking about.

"Nothing else?" Beckett prodded.

"And that we will find the next body in less than an hour,"


End file.
